June Week 4 | Blue Bird Day
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Table Time

Activity: Match the Instrument

Materials:

What’s The Instrument? YouTube Video

Skill Check 

This week is to focus on strengthening visual perceptual skills by matching children from around the world as well as identifying the coordinating sounds (auditory discrimination and attention).

Growing My Skills

Please follow instructions of the bear “hunt” song; if possible use “like items” that could be like each setting.

Areas to get to the bear cave: mud, river, tall grass, tree.

Floortime Play

Activity: Going on A Bear Hunt

Materials:

Bear Hunting Items

Flashlight

Backpack

“Cave” items such as tent, blanket or couch cushions positioned like a fort

Binoculars (toilet rolls taped together, magnifying glass, paper towel roll)

Person to be the “bear”

We are Going On A Bear Hunt Youtube Video

Blue Bird Day and parent resources and virtual lessons for kids

Skill Check 

The goal of this activity is to spend time together in a playful, imaginative way. There should be limited structure and a lot of pretending.

Growing My Skills

Create a good amount of space between props (backpack, flashlight) and the path that leads to the “cave.”

Play the bear hunt song and act out each step using body movements/gestures; encourage your child to look through binoculars for the bear.

Follow the path until the bear pops out of the cave (parent or sibling); if possible have your child create their own “bear hunt.”

For younger kiddos or ones that have motor limitations, look for the “bear” through the binoculars or listen to the song while sitting in the cave (couch cushions, tent).

Relaxation Time

Activity: I AM Meditation

Materials:

Beethoven Youtube Video 

Blue Bird Day and meditation

Skill Check 

The goal of this week is to utilize calming music as an everyday relaxation tool.

Growing My Skills

Looking at a kid-centric visual interpretation of a classical music rendition will expose your child to a different type of music.

Comment on “what the music sounds like” or ask your child to label one aspect they saw within this video.

Creative Time

Activity: Family Dance Party

Materials:

YouTube Dancing Videos (try searching Bollywood, Ballet, Flamingo, Break Dance, Tango, Kabuki, Bhangra, Samba).

Blue Bird Day kids dancing

Skill Check 

The goal of this activity is to spending time together in a playful, imaginative way. There should be limited structure so your child has a chance to explore their bodies and different dances from around the world.

Growing My Skills

Find wonderful Youtube videos of different dances from around the world!

Select a dance and get moving!

Movement Time

Activity: Side-to-side twists (trunk rotation)

Materials:

Ball or toy to grab

You could also use bubbles instead

Blue Bird Day and girl bubbles

Skill Check 

The goal of this week is to use our trunk and stomach muscles to twist the top half of our bodies from side to side while keeping our legs planted on the ground. Use a piece of tape to mark where their feet should stay.

Growing My Skills

You can try this while standing or while sitting.

Have your kiddo reach for something (preferred toy, ball, balloon) to their side to motivate them to turn.

Have your kiddo turn their trunk to the right and then their legs to the left like their own dance move. We are working on moving the upper and lower body in different directions at the same time!

Play a game like Twister that requires moving your body in all different directions.

Mealtime

Activity: Tongue Lateralization

Materials:

Ice cream

“Broccoli Ice Cream” Song Youtube Video

Blue Bird Day and parent resources and virtual lessons for kids

Skill Check 

The goal of this activity is to increase your child’s lingual lateralization. Lingual lateralization, or the ability to move the tongue to the sides of the mouth, is a crucial oral motor skill that is needed to achieve a safe, effective, and mature chewing pattern. The tongue’s ability to manipulate and move the food in the mouth to the sides of the mouth is a crucial skill in order to create a cohesive bolus, or mound of food, in the mouth while chewing with the strong back molar teeth.

Growing My Skills

Watch and listen to the “Broccoli Ice Cream” song with your child.

After, use ice cream (or an alternative puree such as yogurt, apple sauce, pudding, etc. to target tongue lateralization by putting on the corners of lips.

Have your child use their tongue to “clean their lip” by moving the tongue to the side of the mouth to lick off food.

Your child may need you to model this first visually for them, and it may be very helpful to have a mirror placed in front of them so they are able to watch themselves lick the food for visual feedback.

You can expand this activity to put the food on their lips like “chapstick” and have them use only their tongue to wipe their lips clean.

This activity allows for feeding targets of lingual lateralization and improved mobility and range of motion to promote effective, efficient, safe, and mature feeding patterns.

Language Time

Activity: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Materials:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Video

Paint

Paper

Marker

Scissors

Blue Bird Day and paint

Skill Check 

The goal of this week is to increase your child’s understanding of letters and letter sounds, as well as use, expand, and improve understanding of language through play.

Expanding Skills

Watch the “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” interactive story with your child.

After, describe the components of the story (e.g., coconut tree, letters, letters moving up, letters crashing down.

After, create your own Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree with crafting materials!

While creating the tree, you can draw (and cut out) different letters that your child can help identify letter names and/or sound.

Allow the opportunity for your child to participate in the craft-making, asking for help, sharing ideas, identifying colors, and letters.

Once the craft is created, you can reenact the song together (with our without the video).

This activity allows for language targets including letter identification and sound, answering and asking wh- questions, following directions, turn-taking.

WEST LOOP LOCATION

1233 W Adams St, Chicago, IL 60607

WHEATON LOCATION – Now Open!

140 E Loop Rd, Wheaton, IL 60189

NORTHCENTER LOCATION

1921 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago, IL 60613

CONTACT INFORMATION

(312) 243-8487

info@bbdprogram.com

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